his research process during the Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand residency (26.01-08.02.2009), conducted by Andrew Paterson, responded to, and set
 out to nourish, the online platforms surrounding Puke Ariki, and in particular Pukekura Park, by exploring,
 documenting and bridging online/offline aspects of the former regional Taranaki wiki, and soon
 to be kete.

Using the proposition that these platforms can be interpreted as ‘ecosystems’ – imagined by initiators to be sustainable, outgoing and ongoing developments – it makes conceptual connections with the natural and social ecologies in New Plymouth’s popular and historic public.

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Research Process

The residency project was made in collaboration with Puke Ariki, as part of their Education for Sustainability programme, inviting several local high-school students to join the research process.

With the case of the growing online kete platform, the aim of Andrew’s project was to identify ways to sustain its existence in Taranaki region, nourish the persons involved, and ultimately keep the local knowledge flowing between persons.

In the first week Andrew conducted conversational-interviews with key Puke Ariki staff to give insights into the social, historical and environmental relations connected with Pukekura Park. Simultaneously, he researched similar aspects of the former and future online platforms of Puke Ariki.  In the second week he had conversations with persons who bridge these ambitions and care for both spaces.

Following, he aims transfer meanings and concepts from the social-natural ecosystem of the park to the social-informational systems of the online platforms.  This means identifying the inputs and outputs to these environments, including how the organisms, actors or components within, affect each other. It also involves mapping out the exchange of forces/energies and material (such as informational) transfers involved.

Future work to be done would involve opening up the data gathered to those involved, and develop an iterative series of diagrams, which acknowledge the complex interactions between all involved in these ecosystems.

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Conversants

Ron Lambert (Puke Ariki, Exhibitions)

Pukekura Park socio-cultural history & guided tour

Alistair Stevens (Puke Ariki, IT Dept.)

Setting-up of Pukekura Park & Taranaki Kete platform

David Apimerika (IT Freelancer, Educator)

Maintanance of Taranaki Wiki platform 11.2006-2008

Amanda Hewlett (Puke Ariki, Education Dept.)

Educational direction of Taranaki Wiki platform 11.2006-2008

Nathan Hill (Puke Ariki, Environmental Educator)

Environmental Science of Pukekura Park and 60 Springs Project

Gary Bastin (Puke Ariki, Taranaki Research Centre)

Development of Kete Platform in Taranaki Region

Elise Smith (Friends of Pukekura Park)

Pukekura Park Portal Project including Pukekura Kete Plaform & G.I.S.

Walter McGuinness (Lead developer of Kete)

Historical development of Kete Platform

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References and links

Associated Institutions

http://www.pukekura.org.nz/

http://www.pukeariki.com/

Taranaki Wiki

http://www.taranakiwiki.com/

Kete platform development

http://kete.net.nz/

http://www.katipo.co.nz/solutions/kete/

http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/

Taranaki-based Kete platforms

http://kete.pukekura.org.nz/

http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/

http://kete.taranakireo.co.nz/about

Taranaki Environmental Resource: Research Analysis Information Network

http://terrain.net.nz/

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Background and ‘bridging’ stories

Wiki

The online ‘Taranaki Wiki’ platform was initiated by Puke Ariki [1] and funded by the Community Partnership Fund.  Freelance IT-consulant David Apimerika was commissioned in November 2006 to set up a experiemental participatory website, “to allow the people of Taranaki, and elsewhere, to share their knowledge of all things Taranaki” [2].  Due to a very short period for installation and development, the free-to-download open-source TikiWiki software was chosen, and the site ‘bootstrapped’ (i.e. filled with starter) topics, categories and institutional content, before being applied in educational projects within the region.

This type of platform allows registered users (and sometimes non-registered users) to quickly edit a webpage, add and remove content, keeping a record of edit changes within the webpages.  Some Using either short-hand syntax or WYSIWYG editor, styling of text, links and media can be placed quickly into the pages without need of direct access to the hosting server.  These features make it easier for persons who are not part of the administrative structures supporting the project, i.e. the general public, to contribute to the development of the content , the knowledge, contained on the site.  Wiki software is one of the tools which has contributed to coining of the term ‘web 2.0’, and the increased mass participation in the development and publishing of knowledge online.

Furthermore, this style of content management system often purports to lowering the threshold of participation, and adjustment for emerging content layout and design, in the collective gathering of text and other media content online.

Kete

The online ‘kete’ platform was originally developed by the Horowhenua Library [3] in collaboration with Katipo Communications Ltd. [4], as a digital cultural heritage repository – “a knowledge basket of images, audio, video and documents which are collected and catalogued by the community” – building upon the national interactive education vision of ‘Kete Ipurangi’.

A localised Taranaki kete online platform is currently being prepared and ready for open use. Others are installed by organisations and institutions around Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Notes

[1] http://www.pukeariki.com 

[2] http://www.taranakiwiki.com 

[3] http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz 

[4] http://www.katipo.com/